Make a claim

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How much does it cost to make a claim?

There’s no fee to make a claim to the Tribunal.

How to apply

Make sure you follow the correct procedure before you make a claim to the Tribunal.

Human Rights Act 1993

If you’re making a claim under the Human Rights Act 1993, you must first provide evidence that you have made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission.

If you’ve complained to the Human Rights Commission and still want to make a claim to the Tribunal, fill in this form and return it to us:

Statement of Claim – Human Rights Act 1993 [PDF, 536 KB]

Privacy Act 2020

If you’re making a claim under the Privacy Act 2020:

  • you must first provide evidence that you have made a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner and
  • a notice under section 98 of the Act must have been issued by the Privacy Commissioner or by the Director of the Human Rights Proceedings and
  • you must file your complaint in the Tribunal within 6 months of the date of that notice. 

If you still want to make a claim to the Tribunal, fill in the appropriate form and return it to us with a copy of the section 98 notice and any certificate of investigation issued by the Privacy Commissioner:

Statement of Claim – Privacy Act 2020 [PDF, 297 KB]

Separate forms are for use if you are:

Health & Disability Commissioner Act 1994

If you’re making a claim under the Health & Disability Commissioner Act 1994:

  • you must first have your complaint investigated by the Health and Disability Commissioner and
  • a breach of the Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights
    (the Code) must have been found and
  • the Commissioner has decided not to refer the matter to the Director of Proceedings or
  • the Director declined or failed to take proceedings. 

If the Health and Disability Commissioner has investigated your complaint and found the Code has been breached, and has decided not to refer the matter to the Director of Proceedings or the Director has declined or failed to take proceedings and you still want to make a claim to the Tribunal, fill in this form and return it to us:

Statement of Claim – Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 [PDF, 422 KB]

Guide to filing a claim

These guides have general information about the Tribunal including how to file and service a claim and what happens afterwards.

Guide to filing a claim [PDF, 145 KB]

Guide on how to complete and service claims [PDF, 144 KB]

Important tips

If you're making a claim, you're known as the plaintiff.

Your Statement of claim must be signed and dated and include:

  1. your full name, physical address, postal address, telephone number and email address. Please add your physical address (if different from your address for service) to your Statement of Claim
  2. the full name, physical address, telephone number and email address of the person (or organisation) you are making a claim against (the defendant)
  3. the sections of the relevant Act(s) that you claim have been breached by the defendant(s)
  4. a brief statement to describe what has happened, and why you think the person or organisation has breached the Act your claim relates to. This should make clear:
    • What happened?
    • When (date and time) did the facts giving rise to your claim happen? 
    • Where did it happen?
    • Who was involved? 
    • What have been the consequences for you? 
  5. explain what you seek from the Tribunal if your claim is successful.

Representation

You don’t need to have a lawyer or a representative to bring a claim to the Tribunal. However, it's highly recommended that you are represented by someone with experience in dealing with the type of claim you want to make.  

If your representative is not a lawyer - both of you will need to fill in this form:

Authority to Act [PDF, 179 KB]

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